Activity Review: Wineries in Malta
On a tiny, rocky island, we did not expect to find locally produced wine - let alone a winery!
Read about our Christmas 2019 planning post and the rest of our stay in Malta, including amazing activities such as a walking tour and scuba diving!
Logistics
During my research for rainy day or warm activities since the weather was not cooperating, I stumbled across an advertisement for Meridiana Wine Estate. The blog said it was a terrific experience and one that they did not expect to find wine on the island. Well, the ad worked because we were thoroughly intrigued!
To book a visit, visit the website and request a tour at the bottom. Wine tastings and tours are 12E for 4 tastings and a personal tour by the owner of the small estate.
Our Visit
From St. Julian, we booked a BOLT to avoid the long bus and walk to the winery and it worked like a charm! Unsurprisingly, the scenic vineyard views aren’t really possible in winter, but the estate was still beautiful with the rows of wood vines lining the property. Moreover, the estate house was in the middle of the vineyard, setting a great scene with a classic Maltese house in a vineyard!
Exploring the Estate
Beginning in 1994, Meridiana is a relatively new winery! The estate began after an old WW2 English airfield was converted in the 1980s to the vineyard. The owners showed an awesome picture of the original air force base back in WW2! As they were planting their vines, they found two bombs! Talk about drama!
Compared to their neighbors to the north, Malta does not produce a lot of wine, but definitely enjoys drinking it! The estate only produces 140,000 bottles a year and primarily focuses on local grapes. I found their names to be really cool as they are all named for Greek gods or goddesses!
Wine Tasting
For our tasting today, we would have four tasty wines - two white and two reds!
Astarte 2018
ISIS 2019
Melqart 2017
Nexus 2017
While I didn’t think these were amazing, but also not bad! We bought the Astarte bottle for our NYE festivities that night!
The UnChartered Summary
While there are many activities on Malta, I would encourage going to Meridiana for an unique wine experience!
- For a rainy/cold weather day activity, this is great! We explored another side of Malta that we did not expect!
- Although it was a recent airfield, Meridiana produces great wine! We thoroughly enjoyed our wine tasting!